What is the worth of a woman’s life?

Male violence against women is a worldwide phenomenon. Although not every woman has experienced it and many expect not to, fear of violence is an important factor in the lives of most women and a cause of women’s lack of participation in activities.

THE TRUTH is not far away from what we all know – in India, there is a little worth for the life of a female. We all know and read about thousands of women who have been killed for dowry, but if a single man commits suicide, when his wife filed a dowry harassment case against him, society starts thinking that the dowry laws are being misused and they try to find ways to change them.

Has anybody wondered why, when a woman calls up her parents and informs them that she is being harassed for more dowry, the parents don’t pay much attention and when the daughter dies, they create an hue and cry. Why don’t the parents try to bring the daughter back from her in-laws while she is alive; is it because even they do not mind the daughter dying?

Why is it that parents don’t think twice before aborting a female child, or even abandoning a daughter when she is born? (Statistics speak in favour).

Why is it that it is compulsory for men to wear helmet, while on a two wheeler, but not for women (their life has no worth)?

Why is it that every women friendly law has met with a failure? Had dowry prohibition law been a success, the rate of female feticide had been less.

Why is it that a woman is supposed to go on bearing children (even at the cost of her health) till she has at least one or two son? Has anyone heard of a couple who has gone ahead and given birth to many sons in quest for a daughter?

Why is it that our police and judiciary always try to unite a couple and send a woman back to her matrimonial house, even if there is a danger to her life there? Is the mere fact of saving a family more important than saving the women’s life?

India’s constitution guarantees free primary school education for both boys and girls up to the age of 14. This goal has been repeatedly reconfirmed, but primary education in India is not universal. Overall, the literacy rate for women is 39 per cent versus 64 per cent for men. The rate of women in the four large Northern states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh was lower than the national average: 25 per cent in 1991. Attendance rates from the 1981 census suggest that no more than 1/3 of all girls (and a lower proportion of rural girls) aged between five and 14 years attended school.

As adults, women get less health care than men. They tend to be less likely to admit that they are sick and they will wait until their sickness has progressed before they seek help or help is sought for them. Studies on attendance at rural primary health centers reveal that more males than females are treated in almost all parts of the country, with differences greater in northern hospitals than southern ones, pointing to regional differences in the value placed on women. Women’s socialisation to tolerate suffering and their reluctance to be examined by male personnel are additional constraints in their getting adequate health care.

India’s maternal mortality rates in rural areas are among the highest in the world. A factor that contributes to India’s high maternal mortality rate is the reluctance to seek medical care for pregnancy. It is viewed as a temporary condition that will disappear. The estimates nationwide are that only 40 to 50 per cent of women receive any antenatal care.

After marriage, the bride moves in with her husband’s family. Such a bride is “a stranger in a strange place.” They are controlled by the elder females in the household and their behaviour reflects upon the honour of their husbands. As emotional ties between spouses are considered a potential threat to the solidarity of the patrilineal group, the northern system tends to segregate the sexes and limit communication between spouses — a circumstance that has direct consequences for family planning and similar “modern” behaviours that affect health. A young Indian bride is brought up to believe that her own wishes and interests are subordinate to those of her husband and his family. The primary duty of a newly married young woman and virtually her only means of improving her position in the hierarchy of her husband’s household, is to bear sons.